Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-12-10
NEW USE FOR PElLS.
How n Restaurant Manager Obyiates the
Old System of Bawling Out Orders.

Old System of Bawling Out Orders.
where's my ham and eggsi' impa-
tiently asked n man of the waiter III u
Clark street restaurant the other day.
"They's a ccmin' sab, they's a comm"
but | didn't hear you give the order"
mo, sab; we doan give no ordahs; we
touch de bells"
Eve got Il new scheme" said the man
ager, who had overheard the conversation
81 don't know how it is with you, but it
takes away my appetite to 90 into a res
taurant where the waiter, when he gets
an order, bawls it out at the top Of his
voice. Now, in some places, after order
ing just what You did here you'd hear the
waiter shout, one in the dark, white
wings, hog 10 come along and If you
told him that you wanted the eggs cooked
on both sides, he'd sing out, 'shipwreck
them white wings OF course the cook
understands hat ham and eggs and acup
OF coffee are the articles called for by this
order, but TO the uIinitiated IL is all
Greek. Walters slang is the most com
pick jargon ever used, and why they use
it they are unable TO explain themselves.
Now, 10y my system ali the noise and CON
fusion are done away with. You never
hear any order given, I'M the WATERS are
Dol ODllScu 10 leave the ulnlllE TOOTH,
But come with me and III show you.h
The manager led the way TO "A table near
the center Of the room. Upon it were
about twenty white buttons, and at the
base of each was a label. Every button
was capable of transmitting several or
ders. For instance one of the buttons
was labeled eggs" and upon a card were
the following directions: For boiled eggs,
ring once; eggs on toast, twice; scrambled
eggs, three times; omelet, four times"
IL was the same with steaks, as by a
different number of rings the distinction
between tenderloin, porterhouse and sir
loin, rare, medium or well done could be
conveyed TO the kitchen with as much ac-
curacy and with more speed than by the
voice.
wen 90 down TO the kitchen and see
how that end Of it works" remarked the
manager, leading the way 10 n flight of
stairs. a savory smell Of cooking meat
was waited To the visitor as he descended
the stairs. In front of half a dozen big
hroilers stood rs many white jacketed
cooks, with equally white caps placed
rakishly upon their heads. The manager
said that the caps were not worn for
adOrnment, but u prevent hairs and
dandruff from falling into the food. II
don't know why it is, said he, ''but con-
slant working near a fire seems 20 have q
tendency To cause the hair 10 drop out.
or course that would never do, so we
obh2e The men 10 wear linen head gear
in order 20 prevent any mishaps. Then,
too, It looks cleaner, and III a restaurant
looks are everything"
Opposite the ranges, surrounded by a
little railing, was an annunciator re-
sembling those used in hotels to denote
the numbers Of rooms. In front of IL was
seated a lad about ID yenrs Of age with a
number of tickets in his hand. Each
ticket had a number printed upon il cor
responding 20 the number given one of
the cooks. These were called off in rota-
tidn, so hat each one of the cooks would
get the same number of dishes to serve.
Suddenly there was n whirring sound,
followed by a quick snap. The boy looked
mp and saw the word steak on a tri-
angular piece of metal. Then came two
short rings and a long one. The boy
looked at II card and called: "No. 3, ten
derloin steak rare, with mushrooms"
The triangular piece Of metal WGs put
back in its place, and in Il trice "A juicy
steak was sizzling on the iron. 1t was
getting along toward 9 o'clock then. and
the orders began to come III thick and fuSt.
I'VE don't serve anything here but
short orders" said the manager, land,
though ] have over fifty articles on my
bill Of fare, ! rave never found one that
could not be ordered by means Of the bell.
| don't believe there's another system
like it in the country, and You can see for
yourself how much time and trouble it
saves. Chicago Herald.